How baby possum managed to survive savage bushfire

EVERYONE knows of Possum Magic, but for one little possum known as Whiskers, it wasn't magic that saved it from a burning inferno, rather it was luck.

POSSUM MAGIC: Whiskers the possum was saved from the Stanthorpe bushfire. Picture: Contributed

EVERYONE knows of Possum Magic, but for one little possum known as Whiskers, it wasn't magic that saved it from a burning inferno, rather it was luck.

Toowoomba wildlife carer Kiara Hill was one of a number of carers who helped rescue animals in the aftermath of the Stanthorpe and Applethorpe bushfires earlier this month.

Ms Hill found Whiskers, a baby brushtail possum, walking through the ash on her own.

She said the possum was extremely dehydrated and had some minor burns on her feet from the hot embers.

"She's healing really well," Ms Hill said.

"She's still feeding really well, everything is looking good here."

Ms Hill said thousands of animals were believed to have died in the fires on the Granite Belt, which is alleged to have been started accidentally by backpackers.

"It was a very fast moving fire, so the animals didn't have much of a chance to get away from it," she said.

"It was mainly possums that were impacted, because luckily the canopy wasn't too burnt so the koalas seem to be okay. Though we have received some koalas that were burnt.

"We only see a small percentage of what went on. There are thousands of animals we couldn't find, or they escaped into thicker bushland and died later from their injuries."

Originally published as How baby possum managed to survive savage bushfire